Senior club coach Alex McGregor recounts his involvement in athletics over the last five decades:

At a time when races were measured in miles and yards, Alex was a reasonable 3 mile and 6 mile runner at Aberdeen AAC, which in the late 1950's, could field the strongest endurance track team anywhere in the East of Scotland. Alex describes it as being "a boiler room of talent." It was only later, when in the Army, that he turned in his best ever performance, finishing 5th in a field of nearly 300 in an inter-regimental cross-country. "I wasn't so worried about the race, more what our sergeant might say if I did not do well enough - fear can be a real motivator!"

Later, in a 6 mile road race in New York, he finished 2nd, only later discovering that he was just behind the winner of the Boston Marathon held a week earlier. "I can recall shouting encouragement to the other two in my team throughout the race. I made them run out of their socks that day and they were delighted to win the team award." Enthusing others has always come naturally to Alex.

Bo'ness Harriers AAC, in West Lothian, became a prominent part of the community and was formed in 1976 after a boy knocked at Alex's door asking if he could join him on his evening runs. The one boy became two, then three, and the club was born a few weeks later as Alex took his first team to a cross country at Kilmarnock, with his wife, June, sewing coloured stripes on to home-made vests in the back seat of their car on the journey! Although a small club, it soon began to win awards and recognition out of all proportion to its size.

"Every one of our young members was competent at more than one event, an enormous help at League Competitions. The best way forward for the club was to adopt an all round-methodology. A multi-event approach, carried through with enthusiasm and commitment." Bo'ness Harriers became renowned for this method.

Alex progressed through the coach education system eventually rising to the rank of Senior Coach - Combined Events, nowadays known as a Level 4 Performance and Combined Events Coach. "It was at this time that I met some inspirational people in the sport. My coach mentor was Eddie Taylor from Shettleston, Glasgow, a coach passionate about the event and with huge strengths as a motivator, yet a joy to work alongside. A real character."

Alex was soon invited to become the Scottish National Coach for Combined Events, and used the opportunity to widen his horizons and experiences. "Athletes and coaches countrywide were hungry for help and opportunities and it was my job to fulfil that." A match against the south of France, at Bourgoin-Jallieu, saw the team travelling in a coach non-stop to the venue, staying overnight in a hotel, competing the next day and travelling back that same night to Glasgow. All the athletes accomplished personal bests of one sort or another!" We may have lost to a team who were better prepared and much fitter than we were, but the lessons learned were numerous and I remain indebted to the late George Duncan for backing the trip."

Later Alex was involved in selecting and managing Scottish teams for British Isles Combined Events Cup matches. "The camaraderie amongst the athletes from all the countries was wonderful. Helping each other during an event was perfectly normal, something seldom, if ever, seen in single events." Under his guidance, the team grew in strength, marginally failing to overcome England on a number of occasions. He can also admit to being wholly responsible for inaugurating the first National Indoors Combined Events Championship.

Always keen to push boundaries, Alex took teams of combined eventers to matches in Belgium and Holland, as well as taking his entire squad to Cyprus and the south of France for warm weather training.

"The main theme has always been learning from experience and the creativity of others. I once invited Wilf Paish, a renowned coach in England, to a squad day at a school near Grangemouth. Out of the back of his car came a selection of elastic contraptions, some ropes and a couple of medicine balls. What next, I wondered? What followed was a lesson in inventive ingenuity in athlete training that I have never forgotten." From Wilf and others Alex learned of the importance of a good eye, the ability to listen and explain clearly and the need to be adaptable and create.

To help athletes improve their balance and co ordination, crucial to throws, hurdles and jumps, Alex sought the help of a member of the Scottish Ballet. Raised eyebrows among athletes very quickly changed as the session progressed and they saw the value in what they were being asked to do from an entirely different angle.

Alex's coaching contacts in France, in particular, remain friends. When asked why he had not so far written about coaching, Alex answered, "Legacy in print can be short lived and plans are very soon superseded. Colleagues and friends of a like mind are more important, and I also have the Indoor Centre of Excellence at Grangemouth as a permanent personal reminder of what can be done if you push hard enough. Anyway, I'm still learning!"